The invention relates to a combination of a distributor roller of a printing machine and a traversing mechanism therefor which includes a worm gear with an externally toothed worm, and a worm wheel. The invention also relates to an inking unit and a printing press having the combination.
Such a traversing mechanism serves for moving the distributor roller reciprocatingly in axial direction thereof, in order to equalize or make a printing-ink or dampening-medium film uniform.
A traversing mechanism corresponding to the general type thereof described in the introduction hereto has become known heretofore, for example in European Patent EP 0 462 490 B2, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,835. In that traversing mechanism, the worm is externally toothed, and the worm gear is disposed near the distributor roller.
The compactness of the traversing mechanism is insufficient for specific application areas.
German Translation DE 692 12 056 T2 of European Patent EP 0 510 962 B1 describes a traversing mechanism, which does not correspond to the general type mentioned in the introduction hereto, for a distributor roller of a printing machine. That traversing mechanism includes a worm gear disposed in the distributor roller and having an internally toothed worm. The manufacture of the internal toothing of the worm is comparatively complicated.
More remote prior art is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,040,331, in 4,509,426 and in Japanese Patent 29 46 234.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a combination of a distributor roller of a printing machine and a traversing mechanism therefor as well as an inking unit and a printing press having the combination, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and which are simultaneously suitable for manufacture and particularly space-saving.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, in combination with a distributor roller of a printing machine, a traversing mechanism for the distributor roller, comprising worm gearing having an externally toothed worm and a worm wheel meshing therewith. The worm gearing is disposed in the distributor roller.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the worm is disposed axially parallel to the distributor roller.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the combination further includes a planetary gear mechanism disposed in the distributor roller.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the planetary gear mechanism is a single-stage spur-wheel planetary gear mechanism.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the worm wheel is mounted for rotation about the worm.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the combination further includes a crank mechanism having a crank disposed in the distributor roller.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the crank mechanism is a cross-slide crank mechanism.
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the combination further includes a cross-slide crank mechanism coupled with the worm gearing in accordance with gearing technology.
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the combination further includes at least one stationary shaft. The distributor roller is rotatably mounted on the at least one stationary shaft.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the distributor roller is rotatively drivable by circumferential-surface friction.
In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, the distributor roller has at least one shaft. The worm and the worm wheel are mounted so as to be rotatable together about the at least one shaft.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided an inking unit of a printing machine, comprising, in combination with an ink distributor roller, a traversing mechanism for the ink distributor roller. The traversing mechanism includes worm gearing having an externally toothed worm and a worm wheel meshing therewith. The worm gearing is disposed in the ink distributor roller.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is additionally provided a printing press, comprising, in combination with a distributor roller, a traversing mechanism for the distributor roller. The traversing mechanism includes worm gearing having an externally toothed worm and a worm wheel meshing therewith. The worm gearing is disposed in the distributor roller.
In the combination according to the invention, maximum compactness is achieved in that the worm gearing of the traversing mechanism is disposed within the distributor roller.
The construction space no longer required for accommodating the worm gearing next to the distributor roller in accordance with the prior art mentioned hereinabove is now available for other purposes. The integration of the worm gearing into the distributor roller is also advantageous with regard to maintenance of the distributor roller which is to be performed outside the printing machine. The distributor roller can be removed, together with the worm gearing disposed therewithin, from the printing machine and, after maintenance has taken place, can be re-inserted into the printing machine. The outlay in terms of demounting and mounting which maintenance entails is comparatively low, because the distributor roller does not, in this case, have to be separated from the worm gearing.
Further to achieving the advantages noted hereinabove, the external toothing of the worm affords favorable conditions for manufacturing the worm.
In a further development which is advantageous with respect to a distributor roller having a small diameter, and the integration of the worm gearing into this distributor roller having a small diameter, the worm of the worm gearing is disposed so that the wheel axis (geometric middle axis) about which the worm rotates is oriented parallel to a geometric middle axis about which the distributor roller rotates. Placing the worm away from the center of the distributor roller in this way makes it possible to dispose the worm wheel near the center. In this further development, the two gearwheels (worm, worm wheel) can be mounted so as to be rotatable together about at least one axis of the distributor roller.
In another development which is advantageous with respect to the rotary drive of the worm which, as described hereinaboveabove, is disposed eccentrically, a planetary gear, preferably a single-stage spur-wheel planetary gear, is likewise disposed in the distributor roller.
In a development which is advantageous with respect to a simple construction of the traversing mechanism requiring only a few parts, the worm wheel of the worm gearing is mounted so as to rotate around the worm. According to this development, the worm wheel thus rotates simultaneously about two geometric mid-axes or middle axes oriented perpendicularly to one another, more precisely about its own mid-axis and, together with the distributor roller, about the mid-axis or wheel axis of the worm.
In a development which is advantageous with respect to a conversion of a rotational movement of the worm gearing into a linear oscillation of the distributor roller, a crank of a crank mechanism, for example a cross-slide crank mechanism, connected to the worm gearing is disposed within the distributor roller. The crank may either be a component separate from the worm wheel, but connected to the worm wheel so as to be fixed against rotation relative thereto, or, if a crank pin is disposed directly on the worm wheel, be formed by the latter.
In a development which is advantageous with respect to a forcelocking or nonpositive-locking rotary drive of the distributor roller, the latter is mounted rotatably either on a single shaft so as to be fixed against rotation relative thereto or on two journal-like shafts disposed in alignment and fixed against relative rotation. The distributor roller mounted in this way can be driven rotatively exclusively via the friction between the circumferential surface thereof and a circumferential surface in rolling contact with the distributor roller, for example the circumferential surface of a printing form or of an applicator roller. In connection with the foregoing, a forcelocking connection is one which connects two elements together by force external to the elements, as opposed to a formlocking connection which is provided by the shapes of the elements themselves.
A distributor device made up of a combination of the traversing mechanism and of the distributor roller may be an integral part of an inking unit of the printing machine, the distributor roller being an ink distributor roller. If the distributor device is, instead, an integral part of a dampening unit of the printing machine, the distributor roller is a dampening-medium distributor roller.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a combination of a distributor roller of a printing machine and a traversing mechanism for the distributor roller as well as an inking unit and a printing press having the combination, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the-scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.